Dutch officials rebuke Trump admin over removal of Black WWII vet memorials
The Trump administration’s bigoted assault on historical accuracy — and in particular, history involving Black people — has become an international embarrassment. And some Dutch officials are making it clear they want no part in such a crusade.
Officials in the province of Limburg are rebuking the Trump administration and demanding answers over reports that two informational panels honoring a war hero named George Pruitt and referencing the segregation faced by Black troops were quietly removed from the visitors center at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Martgaarten.
Even as they endured racism from their white peers in the U.S. military, Black soldiers played key roles in liberating the Netherlands from the Nazis.
A spokesperson for the American Battle Monuments Commission, the federal agency that oversees U.S. military cemeteries, previously told Dutch news outlet NRC that the panels were “designed to be rotated regularly throughout the exhibition” and claimed the Pruitt panel was “currently not on display, but not out of rotation.”
In response, sources told Newsweek’s Ellie Cook that local officials in Limburg weren’t notified about the removals, that neither of the panels were on display as of Monday morning, and that the commission’s rationale still doesn’t seem to address the removal of the panel about segregation.
The commission did not immediately respond Monday to MSNBC’s emailed request for comment.
Dutch officials are incensed, according to Netherlands-focused news outlet NL Times:
The removal of the panels about the Black Americans who took part in the effort is ‘indecent and unacceptable,’ said the joint statement from eleven political parties in Limburg. They stated the move ‘does not do justice to history.’ They submitted written questions to the provincial executive body, in part to determine whether the municipal government can have the panels replaced. Limburg King’s Commissioner Emile Roemer said that the province also shares the ‘serious concerns’ about the U.S. apparently whitewashing Black history at the American cemetery. He will soon meet with the American ambassador to discuss the matter.
Roemer, Limburg’s top official, said he will “urgently appeal” to U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Joseph Popolo and the commission “to put the panels back where they belong.”
Donald Trump has openly complained about the Smithsonian teaching “how bad slavery was,” his administration has instituted pro-segregation policies, and his defense secretary has openly rebuked the idea that diversity is benefit to the United States military. It’s no wonder why, despite the monuments commission’s claims, Dutch officials aren’t chalking this incident up to mere coincidence.
Ja’han Jones is an MSNBC opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog. He is a futurist and multimedia producer focused on culture and politics. His previous projects include “Black Hair Defined” and the “Black Obituary Project.”
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